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Open Letters Review

Open Letters Review

An Arts & Literature Review

Open Letters Review

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October 21, 2020

Max Jacob: A Life in Art and Letters by Rosanna Warren

October 21, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
Max Jacob: A Life in Art and Letters by Rosanna Warren

One of the unsung founders of Modernism gets a superb new biography.

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October 21, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
Biography/Memoir
Rosanna Warren, Max Jacob, France, Steve Donoghue, biography
October 20, 2020

Parade: A FolkTale by Hiromi Kawakami

October 20, 2020/ Kate Carberry
Parade: A FolkTale by Hiromi Kawakami

Soft Skull Press issues an intriguing little English-language edition of an Hiromi Kawakami novella.

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October 20, 2020/ Kate Carberry/
Literary Fiction
Parade: A Folktale, Hiromi Kawakami, fiction, Kate Carberry, Japanese fiction
October 19, 2020

The Unfinished Tales of JRR Tolkien

October 19, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
The Unfinished Tales of JRR Tolkien

For its fortieth anniversary, Christopher Tolkien’s assemblage of his father’s miscellaneous unfinished tales gets a magnificently illustrated new edition.

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October 19, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
Fiction-Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Anthologies/Short Stories
Unfinished Tales, JRR Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, fantasy, Steve Donoghue
October 18, 2020

It’s a Mystery: “The true art of memory is the art of attention”

October 18, 2020/ Irma Heldman
It’s a Mystery: “The true art of memory is the art of attention”

The ninth Vera Stanhope mystery is as fresh and exciting as the first.

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October 18, 2020/ Irma Heldman/
Fiction-Mystery/Suspense, It's a Mystery
Ann Cleeves, Minotaur Books, It's a Mystery, Irma Heldman, Vera Stanhope, mystery series, mystery fiction
October 18, 2020

Phyllostomid Bats: A Unique Mammalian Radiation

October 18, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
Phyllostomid Bats: A Unique Mammalian Radiation

The leaf-nosed bats of the New World get a glorious volume.

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October 18, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
Animals & Nature
Theodore Fleming, Liliana Davalos, Marco Mello, bats, natural history, nature, Steve Donoghue, University of Chicago Press
October 17, 2020

Screwball: Review of Darin Strauss’ “The Queen of Tuesday”

October 17, 2020/ Michael Adams
Screwball: Review of Darin Strauss’ “The Queen of Tuesday”

Did Grandpa have a Ball? A novelist weaves a bit of family lore into a colorful and touching mid-century tapestry.

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October 17, 2020/ Michael Adams/
Fiction-General
Lucille Ball, television, Darin Strauss, Penguin Random House, Michael Adams, biographical fiction
October 16, 2020

Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World by Fareed Zakaria

October 16, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World by Fareed Zakaria

Columnist and CNN anchor Fareed Zakaria speculates on the future of a plague-ravaged world.

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October 16, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
Politics & Economics, Science/Technology
Fareed Zakaria, WW Norton, pandemic, COVID-19, Steve Donoghue, politics
October 12, 2020

Philip and Alexander by Adrian Goldsworthy

October 12, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
Philip and Alexander by Adrian Goldsworthy

Bestselling historian Adrian Goldsworthy tells the dual story of Philip of Macedon and his famous son.

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October 12, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
Biography/Memoir, History
Adrian Goldsworthy, Philip and Alexander, Alexander the Great, ancient history, history, History, Steve Donoghue
October 08, 2020

Stalin by Ronald Grigor Suny

October 08, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
Stalin by Ronald Grigor Suny

A sweeping account of an idealistic young man transformed into a ruthless dictator.

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October 08, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
Biography/Memoir, History
Joseph Stalin, Russian history, dictators, biography, history, Steve Donoghue, Ronald Grigor Suny
October 06, 2020

The Last Brahmin by Luke A. Nichter

October 06, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
The Last Brahmin by Luke A. Nichter

An examination of the wide-ranging and varied political influence wielded by Henry Cabot Lodge.

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October 06, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
Biography/Memoir, History
Luke A. Nichter, Yale University Press, Henry Cabot Lodge, American politics, biography, history, Steve Donoghue
October 03, 2020

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

October 03, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

The slim new novel by author of “Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell” is about a man living in a house that’s an ecology unto itself.

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October 03, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
Fiction-Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Susanna Clarke, fiction, fantasy, Steve Donoghue
October 01, 2020

Bringing Back the Beaver by Derek Gow

October 01, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
Bringing Back the Beaver by Derek Gow

A new book by the man spearheading the drive to bring beavers back to English waterways.

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October 01, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
Animals & Nature
Derek Gow, Chelsea Green Publishing, Steve Donoghue, animals, nature, environment
September 30, 2020

Rage by Bob Woodward

September 30, 2020/ David Murphy
Rage by Bob Woodward

Celebrated journalist Bob Woodward’s already-infamous new book gives an inside look at the Trump White House.

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September 30, 2020/ David Murphy/
Politics & Economics
Bob Woodward, Donald Trump, David Murphy, politics, American Presidents
September 24, 2020

It’s a Mystery:  “Funny thing about doubt—it marches into your brain and sets up camp without any invitation”

September 24, 2020/ Irma Heldman
It’s a Mystery:  “Funny thing about doubt—it marches into your brain and sets up camp without any invitation”

A compelling variation on a locked-room mystery with high level tension that never lets up.

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September 24, 2020/ Irma Heldman/
Fiction-Mystery/Suspense, It's a Mystery
James R. Benn, Soho Crime, mystery fiction, It's a Mystery, Irma Heldman, mystery series
September 23, 2020

King of the World by Philip Mansel

September 23, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
King of the World by Philip Mansel

An opulent new biography gives a more internationally-minded view of France’s inimitable Sun King.

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September 23, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
History
King of the World, King Louis XIV, French history, history, Steve Donoghue, University of Chicago Press
September 17, 2020

It’s a Mystery: “Murder, I have often noticed, is a great matchmaker.”

September 17, 2020/ Irma Heldman
It’s a Mystery: “Murder, I have often noticed, is a great matchmaker.”

A masterfully plotted, mind-bending thriller that harkens back to the days when Agatha Christie ruled the genre.

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September 17, 2020/ Irma Heldman/
Fiction-Mystery/Suspense, It's a Mystery
Irma Heldman, It's a Mystery, Sophie Hannah, mystery series, mystery fiction, detective fiction, Agatha Christie
September 11, 2020

The Human Cosmos by Jo Marchant

September 11, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
The Human Cosmos by Jo Marchant

A new book looks at the history - and one possible future - for the study of the cosmos.

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September 11, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
Science/Technology
Jo Marchant, science, cosmology, Steve Donoghue
September 10, 2020

The Nature of Fear by Daniel Blumstein

September 10, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
The Nature of Fear by Daniel Blumstein

A new study looks at the extent - and the unexpected benefits - of fear in the animal kingdom.

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September 10, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
Animals & Nature, Health & Psychology
Daniel Blumstein, nature, natural history, marmots, Steve Donoghue, animals
September 08, 2020

This is Shakespeare by Emma Smith

September 08, 2020/ Akumbu Uche
This is Shakespeare by Emma Smith

A scholar explores for a popular audience how ambiguity creates contemporary relevance in twenty of Shakespeare’s plays.

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September 08, 2020/ Akumbu Uche/
Literary Criticism, History
Emma Smith, Shakespeare, Abraham Joyner-Meyers, literary criticism, Literary History, performing arts
September 02, 2020

Unfinished Business by Vivian Gornick

September 02, 2020/ Hannah Joyner
Unfinished Business by Vivian Gornick

A critic and journalist considers how a lifetime of experience has opened her eyes to new meanings in old books.

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September 02, 2020/ Hannah Joyner/
Books & Authors
Vivian Gornick, reading, memoir, Hannah Joyner
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Editors:

Steve Donoghue
Sam Sacks
Britta Böhler
____________________

Eric Karl Anderson
Olive Fellows
Jack Hanson
Jennifer Helinek
Justin Hickey
Hannah Joyner
Zach Rabiroff
Jessica Tvordi

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